Letter to the editor: Why are we waiting on free preschool in Iowa?

In their early years children learn through playing. The benefits of early childhood education have been proven, yet one-third of Iowa's kids don't attend preschool. Angie Clarke keeps the students busy with activities like the freeze dance, shown here, in her preschool class at Mitchell Early Learning Center in Des Moines.

We must make free preschool available for all 4-year-olds from low-income families. A Baltimore educator said, "We know now that pre-K is the engine that drives school success."

What are we waiting for?

Once free preschool is in place, Iowa should just study Maryland's K-12 system and copy it. Why do we constantly try to reinvent the wheel when perfectly good models are out there for us to adopt so our students can experience the same gains taking place in states like Maryland?

- David Leonard, Waukee

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Letter to the editor: Why are we waiting on free preschool in Iowa?

From reading Mary Stegmeier's May 19 special report on how Maryland overhauled its schools, it's obvious what Iowa's first move must be to improve student achievement.